Every rabbit owner should read all the articles on this page http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/rabbithealth.html
It is a must, if you don’t and you have a bunny with you, I am sure you will regret when you lose them one day.
Okay, I am not going to get into much detail on GI Stasis (in short and as far as I understand, it is a partial or full shutdown of a rabbits gastrointestinal system) as you can find hundreds of articles about the illness if you do a google search. What I will be explaining here is what we went through when our pet rabbit was struck with the illness and what we learnt from it. Here I am referring to ‘we’ as me, Maddie and Sloppy the minilop.
Day 1
Every morning before I leave for work I give Sloppy a pile (size of his body) fresh oaten hay and a bawl of fresh water. When we get back we give him vegies, fruits (occationally) and Oxbow adult pellets (1/5 of a cup). Monday the 28th July 2014 was such a day, we left home and came back. Today Maddie went out to give him his share of vegies, and asked me to come down as she found that the he hasn’t drunk any water from his bawl or hasn’t even got into his hay pile as it was exactly the way I gave it to him.
We normally keep and good eye on his behaviour as almost two years ago he had a stomach upset and partially stopped eating for two days. Since then I would normally run my palm and fingers through his *stomach* (cecum area to be specific) and feel how hard it is. I do this every other day. So I did the same and I felt it was bit stiff was around 1-1.5 inch at least. So felt the left side of his stomach as well but it was normal (you will understand what normal is when you feel your rabbits tummy everyday for few weeks). Maddie asked me to bring him inside the house because when she gave him greens he ate abit and went out the backyard to play with her, normally he would eat at least half and beg for pellets as well. We knew that rabbits should eat and produce dropings all the time, so we brought him inside the house which he liked very much as well.
His room was upstairs where he had his hay container and water bawl, so brought him in and offered some parsley and english spanish, he had a parsley leaf or two and came to my room where he would lie down and relax next to my desk where he could see mee. Since we both were bit worried I started moving from room to room so he followed me. We knew the best thing for a rabbit with a slow moving gut is exercices. Oh as well as lot of fluids.
Hour or two went past but didn’t really eat anything but he was bright as any-other day. Around 8:30 (after two hours) or so we read online that we should force feed feed water or some enzymes such as papaya or pineapple juice. So Maddie asked me to go and buy some of that and a syringe before the shops close. I could only find papaya and two 3ml and 5ml syringes. Came back home around 9:30 and Maddie made him a papaya juice with a bit of water to make it sort of watery and I gave around 2ml-3ml and 2ml of water.
His gut was hard like I said and I also noticed that it was a bit swollen. So I thought we shouldn’t feed him any more food (which was not appropriate though, read on), Maddie suggested that we should give him more papaya juice every two hours or so and water but I rejected the proposal. We just fed another 2ml of water around 12:30am and went to bed, decided that Maddie should take him to the vet tomorrow. As we were *sort of* worried (6/10 I would say) and knew stomach upsets are bad for rabbits. After almost 6 hours he didn’t even produce a single dropping.
Day 2
When I was getting ready for work he was up already and bright as usual, following me from room to room while I was getting ready. I gave him another parsley leaf but didn’t eat, also a pellet but he rejected both. I asked Maddie to not wait for that long and take him to Dr. Alex Rosenwax at early as possible. Dr. Alex was his regular vet since we showed Sloppy to him the first day. Alex is a very experianced bird and exotics vet in Sydney.
Maddie went to the clinic around 10am and said that doctor wanted Sloppy to be admitted immediately and he might not be able to come home for two days as it very neccessary to make sure that he eats and poops. They also suggested that we need X-Rays to confirm that there is no obstruction before treating him. X-Rays were clean as no foreigh object was in his body, so Maddie left him there and called me and explained to me that they will give him probiotics, laxatives to make him poop. We were relaxed.
Maddie called up again around end of the day to see how he is doing, but doctor confirmed that he hasn’t pooped but has pee’ed, and also said 95% of such rabbits would produce droppings once they receive those laxatives. So they would treat this as a critical case and force feed him water and baby food as well as antibiotics to make sure his gut and liver can handle bacteria in the gut.
Day 3
We both went to work today and also took the pet carrier as we knew we wanted to bring him back as soon as recovers and treat him at home.
We called the hospital around the midday but they said he hasn’t really produced any droppings yet so were worried now. Maddie suggested that we should go to the hospital and see him. So we did. I saw him for the first time after two days and his stomach was swollen on both sides and hard as a brick. I was shocked to see him like that, I gave him my hand as he likes to lick my fingers but he didn’t, I also cleaned his left ear with finger as couldn’t because of his splay leg. He normally lick the finger after cleaning his ear but today he didn’t, that was enough indication that he wasn’t really at his 50%. He occasionally ground his teeth as well. We both were upset. Dr Andrew was there that day and explained that Sloppy is not really doing good but they force feed him lot of water and baby food with pain killers to help him.
We discussed what options Sloppy got at the time and doctor said we will have to give him sometime as some rabbits take more time to recover from the condition than others, and surgery would be the last option but survival rate of a gastrointestinal surgery for a rabbit is extremely low, less than 50%.
We came home with tears on our eyes. We couldn’t really sleep that night thinking about what he sort of pain he is going through, but hoped he would produce droppings at least tonight or tomorrow morning. We spent pretty much the whole night looking for another person with a similar experience, and any information regarding what we can do to ease his pain and help him with his condition, and I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNSQsWWb4io I thought of performing that massage to Sloppy hoping it would make any difference.
Day 4
We both went to work today and also made a call early morning to find out how Sloppy did last night. He was the same. Maddie said we should go in the evening. So we thought we should bring some red towels as that was his favourite colour so he likes to mark those with his pee and droppings. We thought red towels would stimulate him, so we went to the hospital and the staff asked us to go into one of the two rooms they had and came in with Sloppy.
Maddie laid the towels on the floor and we put him on the floor. Maddie gave him lot of cuddles and kisses I was massaging two sides of his tummy with my fingers with enough pressure not to hurt him, it was gentle but I did it for at least 10-15mins. I also picked him up (with his belly up) and head between my elbow and body as shown in the above video. And massaged his tummy for 30secs to 1min. Then back to massaging both sides of tummy again for another 5min or so, I also kept my ears to his stomach area and listened weather I can hear any gut movements, I heard sort of a stomach movement for a second but nothing much. Doctors came into the room and gave us and heads up saying they need to give medication before they leave work and we have another few minutes with sloppy, that was around 5:40pm. Around 5:50pm Dr Alex came in and took Sloppy away. He also asked us weather we want to go ahead with a GI surgery tomorrow and explained that survival rate is extremely low. But we said will still do that to save him if nothing else would work by Friday morning. He agreed, Dr Alex told us that we can come and see him tomorrow morning before the surgery if we need to, we said probably not, as we were weak at the time. We went home with a heavy heart.
Day 5
We couldn’t really sleep, woke up very early got ready and went to work thinking what we should do if he hasn’t pooped by today. We knew surgery could be extremely dangerous and difficult in a sense that extreme medical care is neccessary after the surgery. Also we knew that most rabbits can’t make it through the anesthetic process as well.
I came to work, and told Maddie that I would talk to the doctors today as she didn’t really want to make decisions as of today. I received a call from Maddie just after she dropped me off at work, she was crying on the other end. She said “Sloppy pooped, but he also has passed away.”, it was a shocker, we both drove back to the hospital again. approx 10 mins from the city, where we work. Dr Alex was there and said though Sloppy pooped last night around 6:20pm, that was exactly 30mins after we left, he also admitted that he probably pooped because we massaged his tummy and did some exercises with him. But he really doesn’t know why he died even after producing droppings. He said if we don’t mind he would like to proceed with a necropsy for his and staff’s benefit to better understand Sloppy’s illness, I agreed as I wanted save another rabbit from the same disease in future. He also said the only regret he has is no one was with him last night.
Both Maddie and I have the same regret as of today, two days after his death. I still see him running around the backyard and following me from room to room, sleep next to my feet when I work. I thought of writing this post not to say how depressed we are now but to give someone a better understand the GI Stasis. So now I am gonna proceed explaining what we could have done differently to possibly save him.
Dr. Alex called me after the post-mortem and said he didn’t really have any dried hay or food in his tummy, and his organs were good as far as he could see, but bit of lumps in the stomach area. They still don’t really have a successful answer.
What could have we done differently?
The question which echoed in my head since the moment I heard that upsetting news. I am writing this in point form, based on priority as far as I understand this illness.
1. I could have checked his tummy more often (at least everyday if not twice a day) to see if it was hard or not.
2. Once we discovered that his tummy was hard on the first day, and not producing any dropings. I could have done what Maddie told me, force feed him water and enzymes (papaya juice or pineapple juice) in small amounts more frequently, every two hours or so the whole night. Also force feed lot of water since the first day.
4. We could have massaged his tummy and perform the exercise that is shown on the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNSQsWWb4io) since the first day. Massaging is the most beneficial of all for GI stasis on par with enough hydration, cannot emphasise any more about how effective this can be if you do right. So look the video number of times, back off if bunny doesn’t like it or try a different posture, pressure and try again.
5. We could have taken him back home with medication and not leave him in the hospital with other animals and no one to take care of him. And could have taken back to hospital on the following day. I would still do this if lived closeby, because stressing out a sick rabbit is not really good in any way. Right now I think I could have booked a hotel room but too late now.
Little about Sloppy
Sloppy was a three and half year old male minilop, who had E. Cuniculi and a splay leg (we think it was a birth defect). He had to go through his first surgery when he was around 8-9months, when his left eye had abscess due to E.Cuniculi, he recovered from it pretty well.
He was very playful and always run after us, he liked red towels, blankets, pretty much any soft cloth that is red. Since his early days he was on 1/4 cups of Oxbow pellets every other day or so and lots of fresh hay and greens, not much veggies but occational fruit such as strawberries or tiny bits of pear, apples, oranges. He was a happy bunny who had lot of exercises and freely roamed in the backyard when there was enough shade, also at nights till we go to bed. Few days a week he spent time with us indoors, thats when he pee’d on all the red cloths he could find :)
Conclusion
If your bunny has a hard tummy or if she/he doesn’t eat or poop or produces small droppings then you should consult your exotic vet immediately, in the meantime get a syringe and feed him lot of water. Again I can’t emphasize any more how effective a tummy massage can be, look at that 7 year old video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNSQsWWb4io), I found it when it was too late to save him. Once you have required medication and if you can put in 8-10 hours a day during GI stasis don’t leave him in the hospital at night, bring him/her back home and do those massages gently and feed them lot of water. Once your bunny recovered from his first episode of GI stasis, make sure you check his tummy every day, keep a good eye on his droppings, shape, size, frequency, etc. That’s what good bunny parents do.
The Red–black tree 
My bunny passed away when left overnight at the vet’s, too. From what we know, nobody was watching her overnight at the vet even though she was in critical condition. It would’ve been better for us to keep her comfortable overnight and we wished we could’ve done that, too.
Sincere thank you for posting your bunny experience. This article was life saver for my rabbit (Romeo). Romeo today, since morning was facing GI problem where he was having tight abdomen, no pooping and refrained from eating food also. I did the same massage to Romeo and it was like a miracle, withing few mins he passed his poops. I would feel that he was so pain relieved. Now next steps, I’m gonna force feed him. Hope he gets well by tomorrow.
Sorry for Sloppy! But you have saved Romeo. Many thanks!
I am very glad to hear Romeo is doing fine now and the article was useful to you.
My bunny eebu is suffering from GI from yesterday morning..he preferred to be in his cage n not move around at all… but i kept force feeding him water n fresh lefy vegetables and pallets..he ate only little n then stopped eating so I would force feed him after every hr or so…today he has shown little improvement…has started eating and also moving around…I will give him massages tomrw morning itself…I am really worried bcz there are no experienced vets where I stay ànd I don’t want my eebu to get stressed over travelling
Continue doing what you’re doing also try to force feed little bit of papaya juice 3-4 times a day. Finding an exotic vet is important as they have medications that can get the GI tract to start again.
Hope he will get better.
Hi,
As I read your forum, I couldn’t help not to cry. I have a pet bunny named Marlow. On Saturday 4/1/16, I noticed him not eating. I took him to the vet that night and they gave him fluids, med’s (to take home) and critical care. I forced feed him until yesterday (Thursday 4/6/16) and immediately took him back in. He was admitted in the hospital since last night and should be released tomororw 4/8/16. I visited him earlier today, but he has not improved. He has not eaten, pooped or peed.
I might be taking him to a suregon in Los Angeles, CA, but I am not sure if I should proceed with surgery or just bring him home to comfort him. I am taking this extmrely hard and my relatives keep telling me to put him to sleep.
Please help me!!!!!
Hi Magda,
I am sorry about what you are going through.
Make sure with the doctor that Marlow is having GI Stasis or not, from what I have heard, GI tract surgery for Rabbits have very low success rates as well. So please discuss that with the doctor before proceeding. Ask the doctor if the Marlow is getting laxatives and make sure he is getting fluids or fruit juice such as papaya or pineapple juice (around 5ml per kilo of body weight) as they would help with both hydration as well as laxative effect due to enzymes in the fruit.
It is difficult to advice on whether you should bring him home or leave him at the vet, but if you bring meds home and force feed at home with tummy massages, etc it could be better than staying at the vet inside a small cage as Marlow could be more comfortable at home.
Refer to http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/ileus.html
I just want to say thank you so much for posting this, and I am so, so sorry for loss.
My bun CeCe decided to chew the training pad liner in her litter box on Saturday night. Sunday morning, she was refusing to eat, very lethargic, and bloated. Took her to the vet immediately as I knew this was likely stasis. They admitted her, gave her fluids, took x-rays, etc. They kept her overnight to continue IV fluid treatment. I trusted them since they are an exotic vet practice.
They called me Monday and said she had passed some poop and was munching on hay. I wanted to pick her up that afternoon, but they said they wanted to do another round of IV fluids and keep her another night. Red flags went up in my head about this since I know overnight stays are extremely stressful for a bun. Monday night, I found your blog entry and become very suspicious of my vet’s recommendations to keep CeCe hospitalized.
On Tuesday morning, they called me and said she passed more poop, but they wanted to keep her another 24 hours to monitor the situation. At this point, I told them I would need to reconsider this. I immediately called another rabbit vet that I have worked with for 8 years. (I would have gone to her Sunday, but she was out that day.) She told me to pick up the rabbit immediately and get her out of the stressful hospital environment. She insisted that the rabbit would not be able to recover if she was stressed. She said everything they were doing in the hospital could be done at home — fluids, feedings, etc. That information, along with your blog entry, gave me complete confidence in my decision to drive there and get my girl.
Today is Thursday, and CeCe is still recovering. She eats a little bit of dill and basil, munches very sporadically on hay, and poops tiny droppings. We stopped Critical Care feedings because I felt that But she has sooo much energy. She runs around a lot, and I can tell she is so happy to be just be home and free. I have never caged my rabbits, so I know being cooped up in a tiny hospital cage must have been horrible for her. I rub her tummy lots, knowing that it will help get everything moving.
I have 4 rabbits, and I can’t even begin to express how much your story breaks my heart. But I also cannot thank you enough for posting this. There isn’t enough information out there about rabbits, so we rabbit owners need to help each other out as much as possible. I hope you find peace in knowing that Sloppy is helping so many other buns.
My little bunny died last night from GI Statis, it was my daughters wedding so had a very stressful week so we thought best thing for Maeve ( bunnys name) was to put her in a little pet hotel for a few days, she went in on Thursday and I collected her on the Monday, she was fine brought her home and she ran to her favourite spot and sat there, I gave her treats plus her usual Timmy hay and bits of kale and she was a happy bunny, Tuesday she was fine running around and being herself and caught her on my bed where she had left a big present of poops all over my duvet, she’s a free house bunny, never been in a cage, on Wednesday I noticed early in the morning her hay and greens were untouched and she was hunched up and very quiet, I knew something was not right I checked her litter tray it was clean, I monitered her in the morning and she was listless and not like her mad bubbly self, I called the vet and was asked to bring her in straight away, she was put on an IV drip and was kept in overnight, I called this morning and was told she passed away at midnight, the vet had taken her home and she was not alone, it gives me some comfort that she was not alone but I’m heartbroken, I told the vet I would call her back once I’ve composed myself, the worst thing is it’s my daughters bunny and she’s away on her honeymoon and keeps asking me to send pics of her baby, I will keep you informed once I find out how she actually died, I’m crying while I’m writing this as this little bunny was part of our family and miss her so much.
Thank you so much for your post and sorry for your loss We have been going through the a very steep learning curve with our bunny Herbert today. We are new bunny owners and thankfully, a friend was able to let us know how serious his symptoms were and encouraged us to get to the vet quickly. Unfortunately, the reason she knew what to do was because she recently lost one of her little bunny family to GI Stasis. I was surprised how many vets don’t seem to know what to do and that is why information sharing like this post is so valuable. We live pretty rurally and had to drive nearly an hour to an out of hours vet that would take us seriously. Ironically, across the border in Queensland, (where rabbits are illegal for those who don’t know). Herbert seems much better after treatment with raglan and pain relief. I am now massaging his little tummy regularly and hoping we are on the road to recovery.
My bunnie Bailey also had gi statis and was hospitalised for 2 nights at his vets and it’s also manned through the night. They gave him all the meds and syringe fed him every 4 hours but no stomach noises or poops so they X rayed him and found no blockage so put him on an overnight drip. The next day they called me and said he had eaten all the kale and spinach and parsley I’d left and was pooping and I could come take him home.
I was happy and excited my gorgeous house bun had seemingly recovered however he didn’t eat anything at home, even turning his nose up at his favourite treats. After a few hours he wasn’t even moving much and he didn’t even make it to his litter tray to go for a wee and just weed where he was sat which was very unusual for him. The turning point came when I placed my hands gently on the bottom of his back feet and he did not even move at all.
I rushed him back to the vets as an emergency and he got worse and worse and as we should not let our pets suffer, I had him put to sleep to put him out of his misery. I was and still am absolutely grief stricken. He was my buddy and we lived together indoors and he was free range and a beautiful rabbit.
I still do not know what happened other then it seemed to be his little bunny kidneys in the end as when he was touched gently either side of his body, he moved his body in. I don’t know if it was due to stress of the vets (which is unlikely as he clearly had an underlying problem to get statis in the first place) or due to kidney failure or liver torsion all I know is that I tried my hardest to save him and it didn’t work and now I feel grief stricken and my heart is broken
Bailey was a French lop aged 3.4 months, he was a lovely rabbit, playful, placid, curious, sweet, adorable and furry!
Thank you to everyone for your stories, and I’m sorry for your loss for all of you who lost your bunnies. We just lost our dear Woody earlier tonight and I am feeling so guilty. My husband and I noticed he wasn’t eating much and his poops were small, but it was the weekend and I had to visit an elderly relative, so I couldn’t give it much attention other than to give him wet coriander and parsley and kale (all his favorites). Tonight I saw he seemed uncomfortable, and didn’t want any treats. I let him out to run around the living room, and he was having lethargic. Then my husband and I tried to give him a little water with a medicine dropper. I think the stress of our holding him (he was a New Zealand White and, although he loved being petted, he was very fearful and would fight being held) might have been the last straw. He had trouble walking and then just lay down on his side. My husband I realized what was happening and we patted him and spoke to him and cried as he died.
He’d always chewed on all sorts of things and had no stomach problems. He was just over 7 years old. 7 years ago last month we found him, as just a young rabbit, hiding under a car in a Wendy’s parking lot. He grew to be over 8 pounds. In the last few months my husband has been out of work, so he was home and would let Woody out to run around all day, so his life was pretty good these last few months because he had a lot more running around time than usual. We will miss him so terribly.
My bunny also just passed of GI stasis a few hours ago. My heart is broken and I feel so guilty, like I could have prevented it somehow- so these stories help me- it helps knowing other bunny parents have gone through this as well. Daphne was a beautiful lion head mix and I did all I knew to do for her- went to the vet, gave her critical care and fluids and pain meds, even going as far as giving her an enema. She pooped last night after the enema and my boyfriend and I got her moving around the house for a bit so I was hopeful for a recovery. But when I woke to give her more meds this morning she was gone. She was a good bun and will be missed.
I lost my bunny a week ago today from GI Stasis. On Mothers Day, my bunny wouldn’t eat & I could tell she was in discomfort. The next morning, she was still in the same condition. I know once bunnies go past 1 day of not eating, it’s dangerous. My husband brought her to our exotic vet right away. He said that her temp was 97 (not good for bunnies) & had GI Stasis. He took X-rays, put her on fluids & meds, & in a heated incubator to get temp up. Vet said let’s pray she makes it thru night (she stayed at vet’s). My bunny did make it thru the night but still was not well. The vet “drained” her stomach (with a tube down her throat) & said removed a lot of hair & some food. Once again, he said let’s hop she makes it thru night. The next morning, the vet calls & said my bunnies doing great! She’s back to her old self & pooped & peed. Within an hour, the vet calls again & said my bunny took a turn for the worst. I was in complete shock & rushed to the vet to see my bunny. Long story made short, her breathing became labored & had to stay that night again. They said her stomach/blockage was much improved & didn’t know why this was happening. I knew when I said goodbye to her that night she wasn’t going to make it. The next morning, the vet called to say she passed away in the early morning.
I had my bunny, Baby, for six years. She was free roam. Me and my husband are extremely devastated as she was the center of our world. Our children are older & no longer live at home so she was the center of our attentions. I never knew a bunny could be such a special pet. We loved Baby with all our hearts & she loved us back. We will never forget her and will love her forever. We lost a huge part of our hearts. Baby, we truly love you. Rest In Peace: 2011-2017❤️
Our problems with our Netherland Dwarf Sadie began a month ago with teeth grinding and not eating or drinking, no urinating or pooping. Took her to the vet and they hydrated her and gave us Critical Care and pain meds. After a few days she was back to her old self. Two weeks later noticed her poop was getting deformed and smaller, started giving her Critical Care and pain meds again, but this time it had no effect. Came home from work one day and she had passed. Rest in Peace Sadie 2011-2017. GI Stasis is very bad.
Ronnie, so sorry for your loss. I lost my bunny to GI Stasis 3 weeks ago. I miss and think of her every day. I never knew a bunny could make such a difference in my life. She took a big piece of my heart with her. She was truly a special pet.
So sad for all of you who have lost bunnies to this awful problem .Both my rabbits have had GI statis at least 3 times each, they are 6 and 7 years old . This advuce was given to me by my bunny savvy vet the first time one of mine got sick. Hope it helps someone in the future …If you notice that your bunny is sitting hunched up,not eating or pooping much the best thing to do is sit them on your lap with a warm towel under them or a warm hot water bottle wrapped in a towel and massage gently in small circles under their tummy sort of between their back legs ,toward their rear area. You need to do this for a long time, half an hour to an hour , have a little rest , offer them some fresh picked grass or parsley or dandelion flowers and leaves. Try to get them to walk around a little without chasing them . I find even bunnies who dont much like being picked up ( like mine ) will let you do this as it seems to really ease their pain . Do it a few times over a few hours and see if they improve. Mine always do after a couple of hours.This has been like a miracle to see my poor bunnies looked like they were about to pass away and after a couple of hours they are running around , and back to their happy selves. If they dont show improvement by all means bring them to your vet, but as the original post said ,sometimes the car trip and vets can make them more stressed and more ill .
I read all the comments, and I’m so sorry that you lost your precious buns to this dreadful Stasis.
I own a bunny too. He is a dutch bun and is ten years old this August. The only thing he ever had wrong with him was an ear infection, thankfully! But, I read all the comments about G.I. stasis because I want to be prepared in case he ends up with it some day. So thankful that I found bunny owners who help others by sharing their experiences. Anyway, his ear infection cleared up after days of medicine into his ears each night, which was quite an ordeal! My bunny did not like those drops at all. Thanks again for sharing. I definitely learned how life-threatening Stasis is. I would appreciate hearing from those of you lost their little babies. And, thanks again. My❤goes out to all of you. Laurie
Sorry for your loss. I found this post as my rabbit is going through the same thing. She’s 6 years old and like an hour ago I went downstairs to give her food as she has a large indoor cage and noticed that she was constantly adjusting herself laying flat against the cage and looking rather lethargic. I opened her cage door and got no reaction, put food in her cage, no reaction, changed the water no reaction. She was basically just laid there feeling awful no doubt. She’s one of those rabbits that loves attention and goes crazy happy for food but today, nothing. It’s 1am here as I write this and there’s not much I can do. I feel sad for her and hope she doesn’t die before I can take her to a vet in the morning if ones is open(Its a bank holiday here and most places have erratic hours in that event).
She allowed me to pet her on the head which she closed her eyes in response. I did notice whenever she got up she would er I’m not sure what the right word is but you know when you’re constipated you kinda push? That sort of motion but with rabbits which makes me think maybe she has an obstruction, I don’t know. It’s happened at the absolute worst time as I can’t take her anywhere as its 1am.
Hi Matthew,
If you have some papaya, make few tea spoons of juice out of it and give it to her. Also force feeding that (papaya juice) or water could help.
Also make sure the vet you are planning to go to is specialised in exotic animals like Rabbits and Guinea Pigs, otherwise it could be not much use (may be that is something you can research tonight).
If she has GI Stasis, the tummy is normally tougher to touch than normal, and she may not even like you touching that area as there is quite a bit of gas build up in the GI tract. What you can do is after feeding water or papaya juice, try massaging her tummy area towards her tail slowly and gently for few minutes at a time (that massage could let her pass that gas build up if she has that).
Hope this helps, let us know how you go tomorrow
Thanks for the well wishes.
Unfortunately it turned out to be much worse. After having an X-Ray & Ultrasound they discovered quite a large stone thing blocking her from peeing/pooping and also that she did infact have G.I. Stasis as a result. After a lot of consultation and a £200 or so bill, the vet told me that it was that bad she wouldn’t survive the surgery. She had to be put down as a result as there was nothing that they could do. She lived a long happy life and I’m sad for her.
It just sucks that there was nothing that could be done sooner. If I knew about this stone thing I could have taken her but she showed no signs of any distress until recently.
Even though it would have been heart breaking, you made the best decision available for the bunny.
Matt,
I’d like to know how your bunny is doing. I hope she is well. My heart is still broken, and always will be, from my loss a year ago. I still ove her so dearly.
Sorry to hear about your Bunny and thanks for the support. Unfortunately things didn’t go well.
Matt,
I saw that you wrote that your bunny didn’t make it. I’m extremely sorry for your loss. Always keep her memory close to your heart. They are very special creatures. A secret not many have discovered.
My daughter lost her year old bun Jeff to GI this morning. Jeff was hospitalized on Tuesday and he went thru a GI surgery on Tuesday night. The docs felt that’s the only option they had. Of course our lil Jeff didn’t make it. We are all devastated and heart broken. We miss our lil Jeff. He had added so much color to our lives.
I wonder if enough research is going into how bunnies can be saved from GI given that it’s the most common yet a silent killer. Bunnies deserve to live longer not succumb to this disease so easily.
It is so heartbreaking to see the number of bunny lives that have been lost to GI Stasis. Thank you all for posting your stories, which gives me the strength to realise that I am not alone in grief of losing a dear pet who was more a like a grandchild to me.
My daughter lost her year old bun – Jeff – to GI stasis two days ago. She and her fiancé had provided him and his sister – Isobel – a love-filled and warm environment at home. Yet Jeff was delicate in health. This was the fourth time in his short life of one year that he had intestinal problems although he was on the right diet and was taken care of so well. Three times Jeff came home, but we didn’t think this time he wouldn’t. Jeff was hospitalised on Tuesday when he suddenly stopped eating and pooping. Despite medication, there was no improvement in his health, and he continued to stay without food. After hours of seeing if things would improve for little Jeff, the vet decided to take an X-ray to see what the problem was. And she discovered a block in the intestine. That is when she decided to do a Gastro-Intestinal surgery after warning us that there is only a 50% chance of survival. We were heartbroken to think that Jeff might never come back home. He survived the surgery, and that got our hopes up. However, our happiness was short-lived. He succumbed the following day just when my daughter and her boyfriend were driving in to see him with his sister Isobel. They walked in to find our little baby wrapped up in a towel, motionless! This white ball of fur that used to come bounding to us for treats had gone! I am crying as I write this, and there is so much of pain and grief in my heart that it hurts. While Jeff was in hospital, I stayed up those two nights praying for his recovery. And now when I see that this little baby soul didn’t get God’s help, I feel my faith is dented. I ask God, why he watched while this little baby struggled to take his final breath! I guess I would never know. But what I know is that God had placed him under the loving care of my daughter and her fiancé for a year. God knew Jeff had only a brief period to live in this difficult world of ours, and he wanted the best for him. And this makes me think, Jeff was God’s special bunny. He is now resting peacefully, and probably looking down at us with his doleful eyes waiting for that time when we will all be family again. RIP my baby. You will be missed for eternity.
I am extremely sorry for your loss. I lost my dear bunny, I called her “baby,” a few years ago. I was lucky enough to have her for 6 years. She was a free roam indoors rabbit and we couldn’t have loved her more . We loved her and she showed us her love back. I never knew I could fall so much in love with a rabbit. I miss her everyday and she took a big piece of my heart with her. I hope that God gives the chance to reunite in heaven.
Hello. I am so sorry ur bunny past away. Your story was a heartbreaking one but I am thankful you wrote it. He was a truly happy bunny to live with such loving parents. The information you provided is very helpful and educational and hopefully will save other bunnies lives. I am currently thinking about getting a pet rabbit and was making a research on rabbits and found your story. Seems like g stasis is a very big problem for bunnies. I hope some day there would b a better preventative care for it and some form of cure. Thank u again for your story.
Thanks for your kind words.